The start of each MLB season brings hope to all 30 fan bases that this could be the year their team plays deep into October and wins the World Series. But it also brings wild new food offerings that fans can enjoy while sitting in stadiums across the country and rooting on their teams.
This year is no different, as some of my friends here at SI pointed out with their rankings of the boldest and most absurd new treats being served up from Miami to San Francisco.
But it didn’t take long for one of those offerings to be called out for being both fraudulent and embarrassing.
We’re talking, of course, about the 9-9-9 challenge, which was on display Wednesday night when the Giants lost at home to the Yankees, 7-0.
What is the 9-9-9 challenge?
For those unaware, the 9-9-9 challenge has been a viral trend over the past few baseball seasons in which fans attempt to eat one regular sized hot dog and drink one regular sized beer every inning for all nine innings.
While it might sound like fun at first (who doesn’t love having a hot dog and a beer at baseball game!?) it tends to end in the most predictable of ways with said hot dogs and beers being violently ejected from the person’s body. We can hope that happens in a trash can or toilet but it also might occur in the stadium concourse or in the stands or wherever that person is when their body decides to exact revenge and correct the wrongs that had been done over the nine innings (if they were lucky enough to make it that far).
What MLB teams have gotten wrong with their 9-9-9 challenges
The Giants were the first team to introduce their version of the 9-9-9 challenge to the world and it wasn’t great, nor was it even close to being representative to the roots of the viral trend.
Instead of offering full beers and regular hot dogs, fans in San Francisco had to pay $55 for nine mini hot dogs and one tall beer that they could then pour into nine tiny glasses.
Take a look:
Purchasing the San Francisco Giants' 9-9-9 challenge box gets you nine mini dogs, nine glasses (an estimated 3-4 ounces) and a tall can of Coors Light. But the beer is not enough to fill every glass up to the level that anyone would consider a regular pour. pic.twitter.com/x8IJ3FMKZs
— SFGATE (@SFGate) March 25, 2026
There are a number of issues with that 9-9-9 challenge. First, it has the vibes of when some private equity firm buys a popular food chain and then ruins that chain but making everything smaller and less enjoyable.
Secondly, the beer situation is an absolute mess. That one beer above wasn’t enough to fill all nine glasses with even something that would resemble the size of a single shot. The whole basis of this challenge is to make it difficult on your belly to get nine regular beers down while consuming nine hot dogs. Nine tiny sips of beer, as these MLB challenges are serving, is not a challenge. It’s a disgrace. Plus, if you want to play out the challenge in the spirit in which it was created and consume one drink and one hot dog an inning, that beer is going to be so warm, flat and nasty by the time you get to about the fourth inning. Not great, Bob!
Thirdly, the size of the hot dogs is also a gross degradation of a trend that was created by the people and celebrated by the people. The spirit of this challenge is to push your body to the limit to see how much you can take before it takes, or leaves, you. These mini hot dogs are more like the cocktail weenies you’d eat like popcorn at some social event that you wish you hadn’t attended but were probably forced to by maybe your parents or a significant other.
This all feels like going to a bowling alley and having the bumpers put in the gutters when all you really want to do is test your game without the assistance of someone in management deciding you need to have your hand held.
The six MLB teams that are offering the 9-9-9 challenge this season
There will be six teams offering this challenge at home games: The Giants, Rockies, Phillies, Astros, Royals and Mets. The Phillies were the only team to offer this last year.
The 9-9-9 Challenge is back and will be available at even more ballparks in 2026 👀
— MLB (@MLB) March 23, 2026
Where will you be attempting the challenge? 🌭
New York Mets - Citi Field
Philadelphia Phillies - Citizens Bank Park
Colorado Rockies - Coors Field
Houston Astros - Daikin Park
Kansas City Royals… pic.twitter.com/GYn32rRRT8
Why MLB teams have probably taken this weak approach
It’s time to address the elephant in the room. The regular 9-9-9 challenges might be fun to watch while scrolling TikTok or Instagram Reels, but they really aren’t that smart or safe to do.
Nine regular beers in nine innings can lead to intoxication, which can lead to things going horribly wrong for that person, and then teams can get sued for allowing them to happen in their stadiums. MLB teams understandably don’t want to deal with that, so now they’ll sell you one beer and ask that you drink that over nine innings while eating nine tiny hot dogs in the process.
MLB teams think you can then celebrate pulling off their little challenge by bragging to your friends who will then in turn try to match you at their next game, and everyone can have a little fun at the ballpark while spending $55 bucks.
What fans should really do
The answer to this is simple—just buy a regular beer and a regular hot dog and enjoy them like a normal person. You’ll be able to sleep easier knowing you didn’t fall for some gimmick devised in a soulless conference room and you’ll feel much better in the morning.
More MLB from Sports Illustrated
- Netflix’s Opening Night Yankees-Giants Broadcast Was a Complete and Total Embarrassment
- MLB Opening Day Power Rankings: Every Team’s Sneaky X-Factor
- MLB Opening Day: Building a Lineup of NFL Stars Who Could Have Played Baseball
- The Most Appetizing, Most Absurd, and Most Stomachache-Inducing New Ballpark Foods
This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLB Teams Are Offering the Saddest 9-9-9 Beer/Hot Dog Challenges at Games This Season.
